


Not Exactly

by velocitygrass



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-05
Updated: 2007-10-05
Packaged: 2017-12-23 22:04:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velocitygrass/pseuds/velocitygrass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She loved working on the Ancient devices. She had found a few friends. The only thing lacking was some...other distraction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Exactly

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Outside In" challenge at McSheplets.
> 
> Many thanks to neevebrody for the many helpful suggestions and corrections.

Being in Atlantis was a dream come true for her. She'd worked hard for this opportunity, and now that she was here, she had to work even harder, but it was all worth it.

She loved working on the Ancient devices. She had found a few friends. The only thing lacking was some...other distraction. Finding a boyfriend had never been a problem for her. She was attractive and could be charming if she wanted to. Of course, in Atlantis the options weren't quite the same, but that didn't matter because someone had caught her eye the very first day.

Some would have thought it presumptuous of her to pick the military commander of the expedition of all people, but it was her experience that often those most desirable just waited for someone to dare make a move.

"Is Sheppard seeing someone?" she asked her colleagues.

They looked at each other.

"Well?" she pressed. She could take it if he was. She just wanted to know.

"Not exactly," was the evasive answer. But before she could ask for clarification, McKay stormed in and demanded their immediate attention.

Later she asked one of her military friends, but the answer she got was an equally strange, "I couldn't tell."

Well, there was one way to find out.

At lunch later that day, she carried her tray to the table where Sheppard sat, alone, and asked politely if she could join him. He looked a bit surprised at first, but then nodded.

"So, what do you do for fun in the city of the Ancients?" she asked with a flirtatious smile.

Sheppard watched her for a moment, then leaned forward and smiled back. "What did you do for fun back on Earth?" he asked, in an equally playful manner.

She licked her lips. Score one for her.

When she returned to the lab, her colleagues abruptly stopped their talking as she entered.

"Word is you had lunch with Sheppard today."

"Yes, I did," she said, not able to suppress the smug smile spreading across her face.

One of her colleagues shook her head.

"It's really not worth it," her other colleague said.

She was getting annoyed, but apparently they were meaning well, so she left it at that, and they continued on with their work.

That night she only grabbed a small bite in the mess. Sheppard wasn't there.

The next morning, she found him eating breakfast with his team. Since his table was already full, she went to sit with her friends, smiling at Sheppard as she passed him. He smiled back, but his attention immediately returned to McKay.

She half-listened to her friends, mostly watching Sheppard, wondering if she should just ask him out or flirt some more and wait for him to invite _her_.

As she watched, she saw a smile appear on his face. It stopped her cold, breaking her train of thought. That smile was different from the smiles he'd given her or that she'd seen him give to others. Sheppard rolled his eyes at something McKay had said, but there was still the ghost of that smile on his lips.

Affection, she thought, only that wasn't adequate enough to describe what she'd seen in that smile.

She watched Sheppard steal something from McKay's plate, and McKay playfully hit him and stole something from his in return.

The smile on Sheppard's face became a grin, but that "something" in there was the same.

_Adoration_ , she suddenly realized.

She watched a bit longer and even when he turned his attention to the other members of his team, Sheppard's gaze would return to McKay occasionally with that same quiet adoration.

Quickly finishing her breakfast, she excused herself. Sheppard didn't even look up when she passed him.

 

A few months later, her boyfriend teased her about a new arrival who'd also set her sights on Sheppard and about how maybe they could fight it out. She stuck out her tongue at him.

When she met the woman the next day, she deliberately steered the conversation towards Sheppard.

"He's a very good CO," she said. "The soldiers respect him and he respects the scientists, which in turn makes us respect him."

"And he's really hot to boot."

"Yeah, but..." she trailed off.

"He's seeing someone," the new arrival said in a resigned tone, as if she had expected it.

She wasn't quite sure how to answer that, but eventually settled on, "Not exactly."


End file.
